Black Blood

Disclaimer: For the beginning, I'd like to thank my best friend. The idea came from a funny RP session we did a while back. The only clue I gave her as to what this was about is laughing when she mentioned watching Phantom of the Opera last night. Hope you like it, Jo!

A/N: Here it is. Finally, I know. You're finally getting a clear answer in regard to Raven's situation and she's going to give it directly to you. I'm guessing it was pretty obvious, especially if you read Renegade or know anything whatsoever about– ...I almost gave it away. About...these sorts of things. Just a head's up, if the beginning makes absolutely no sense to you, keep reading. You'll see why later. Thanks. Oh, by the way, for some reason is being weird and won't let me edit my stories, so I'm sorry if this doesn't look exactly right.

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Chapter 6 - Complicated

Smiling reassuringly at Sirius, Remus entered the living room and sat down. "She's all right now. I got her all squared away."

"Remus," Sirius began, unable to stand the suspense any longer, "is Raven your mate? Tell me the truth."

Remus sighed. "Well, I suppose there's no use hiding it now. Raven is Raoul's mate."

Sirius stared, uncomprehending. "R-raoul?

He nodded. "Raoul is the wolf's personality inside me. He's French."

"Oh..." said Sirius. "So...she's Raoul or whoever's mate and that's why you stopped her from...well, seducing me?"

"Raoul willed me to do it; it wasn't really me. I want Jordan, but he wants Raven. She had to talk him out of coming in here and attacking you to defend her honor."

"I didn't know..." Sirius began.

"I know that, Sirius; it's okay. He's agreed to let it go this one time. You can thank Raven for it."

Sirius locked eyes with Remus quickly. "What did she do?"

"I don't think you want to know," said Remus. "Just don't worry about it. I have to go."

"Okay..." Sirius still looked extremely confused. "...Bye."

"See you later." Remus left.

A minute or two later, Raven came into the living room, still in her nightgown. She sat next to him, where Remus had been sitting a moment ago.

"I'm really sorry, Sirius. I should have told you a long time ago."

"So...if you're Raoul's mate, what does that mean for us?" asked Sirius, afraid of the answer. "Are you allowed to date other people? Because I really like you, Raven."

"I like you, too, Sirius..."

"Is this why you always pushed me away? Because you knew we couldn't be together?"

Raven nodded. "I didn't want you to get hurt. If Raoul thought I didn't like you, I hoped he wouldn't bother to kill you over liking me."

"Well, what happened this morning?"

Raven glanced whimsically up into Sirius's eyes. "I guess I just can't deny that I want you, Sirius. I can play it off as much as I want, but the truth is, you're all I've ever wanted."

The two of them locked eyes and then hastily met lips. As the heat rose quickly in both of them, Sirius wrapped his arms around Raven and kissed her like he'd never kissed anyone before.

After several fervid moments had passed, Raven pulled back and stared up at Sirius with a fearful expression. "Sirius...what about Raoul?"

He shook his head, adamantly. "Don't talk about him. I don't care; he can kill me. At least I'll die happy."

Sirius pulled her strongly to him again and covered her mouth with his a second time. They kissed passionately and endlessly...until they heard a threatening growl behind them. As Sirius whipped around, he glimpsed a mane of sandy-brown hair lunging at him with inch-long fangs bared.

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"Padfoot!"

Sirius was shaken awake and when he opened his eyes, jumped back at the sight of Remus's face so close to him and fell off the couch. It took him a minute to register that it had all been a dream.

"Wh-what?"

"You fell asleep," said Remus.

"Obviously," Sirius replied, rubbing his eyes and standing up.

Remus looked back at Raven who was standing just behind him. "I'm going to go, okay? You all right?"

Raven nodded. "Thank you, Remus."

He smiled. "Just returning the favor, Rave. See you later, Sirius."

"Yeah..." replied Sirius, distractedly.

Raven watched Remus go until she couldn't put off looking at him any longer. She met his eyes and smiled weakly. "You should sit down."

As he sat on her couch, Raven took a seat across from him. They were both silent for a few moments, and then Raven sighed and lowered her head to rest on her hand. "Sirius, I'm so sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't do that. Nothing happened."

"I know what happened...and I should have told you about it before something like this came about..."

"Told me what exactly?"

She sighed again. "It's...complicated."

"All right, just answer one question I have first: are you Remus's mate?"

She looked at him like he had gone absolutely nuts. "Um...what?"

"Are you Remus's mate when he's a wolf?" Sirius repeated. "James was saying that werewolves can have human mates, and they're the only ones who can control them. Are you Remus's mate?"

"No."

"Then how were you able to stop him last night?"

Raven didn't know how to answer. "He can't hurt me..."

"Why not?" pressed Sirius.

She sighed. "This is very hard to just come out and tell someone, you know."

"...Kind of like telling someone you're a werewolf?" suggested Sirius.

"I'm not a werewolf...but I am similar to a werewolf in many ways."

"Okay..." said Sirius. "How?"

Raven sighed. "I don't know how to tell you without you freaking outཀ"

"I promise I won't freak out, Ashe. Didn't Remus tell you about when we found out he was a werewolf?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, but that's just it - you found out. He didn't have to figure out how to tell you."

"Well, is there anything you do feel comfortable talking about? I mean you obviously have the ability to control werewolves, and a few minutes ago in the kitchen, you were implying that you could read my mind." He looked questioningly at her. "Can you?"

Raven hesitated and then sighed. "Sometimes."

"...Sometimes?" he prodded.

"It's complicated, okay? This morning I could. Sometimes I can't."

"Okay," Sirius smiled reassuringly at her. "So what else can you do?"

"I...rarely ever get sick."

Sirius's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't get sick? What do you mean?"

"I mean like I've never had a cold, or the flu, or the chicken pox," Raven explained.

"Well why don't you get sick like normal people then?" asked Sirius, starting to get extremely confused.

"...Because I don't," she answered.

"Okay...well, that must be nice. But that can't be it. I mean 'Oh wow, you can't get sick and you can sometimes read people's minds!' That doesn't sound so bad, Ashe."

"No, it isn't," Raven agreed. "I'm telling you like this because the perks are easier to talk about. You said to start with something I feel comfortable saying."

"You're right, I'm sorry. What are some more of the 'perks' as you put it?"

"Well...I can heal faster than most people, and—"

Sirius interrupted, "But you just said you didn't get sick."

"Actually, I said I rarely ever get sick. There are some more serious illnesses that I could get. And I meant I can heal, like flesh wounds, for example, a lot quicker than most people."

"Oh..." Sirius's head was now swimming. "What else?"

"Um...I can move so fast you wouldn't be able to see."

Something clicked in Sirius's brain. "Like teleport?"

"Um...yeah," Raven answered uneasily. She could see he was beginning to guess.

"Okay, you can read people's minds, you don't get sick, you can heal yourself, and you can teleport..." Sirius trailed off as he went through each thing over in his mind. Then he looked up at her, "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"No," Raven answered.

"You're not?"

"Okay, I'm half vampire," she stated.

"Half?"

"My mother was a witch, but my father was a vampire."

"Oh, I get it," Sirius nodded. "That's why you can read people's minds sometimes and you don't get common sicknesses?"

"Right. My powers sort of come and go since I'm only half vampire. And I guess I'll age about half as quickly as you will."

Sirius looked sideways at her, puzzled, and said, "What? That makes no sense. If you did, you'd be, like, nine now."

"Right. But because I was born of a vampire and it's sort of unheard of to make children vampires, my vampire abilities didn't begin with birth. As I grew up, I developed them. Once I'm of age, and I was just this year, my aging starts to slow down until I age half as much as normal people."

"So when I'm fifty, you'll be twenty-five?" asked Sirius, starting to smirk.

"I'll look twenty-five, yes."

Sirius grinned. "I sure do know how to pick 'em," he teased.

Raven remained silent.

"So wait..." Sirius was starting to put together some of the things that had happened that morning, "when we were in the kitchen and you said you didn't eat, you only drank, did you mean..."

"...Blood, yes."

Sirius blinked a few times. "Were you going to bite me?"

Raven bit her lip nervously and looked at her carpet. "...Yes."

"...But you're not now?"

"No. Remus made me take a potion that satisfies my thirst for blood. As long as I take it in the morning, I won't get like I did. You rang the doorbell just as I was heading into the kitchen to take it, and I guess when I saw you through the keyhole, I turned without knowing it."

"So when you say your powers come and go, it's like sometimes you can all the sudden read people's minds?" inquired Sirius.

"My powers come and go when I'm a vampire. If I take my potion on time and everything, then I don't have any of those powers and I don't crave blood. They tell me I could technically still turn if I was extremely angry or scared or something like that, but that's never happened before. But basically my powers when I'm a vampire are a bit sporadic," Raven finished.

"Like how?" Sirius asked.

"Like healing. Sometimes it takes me half an hour to heal a paper cut, sometimes up to one or two days. With mind reading and teleporting, sometimes I can and sometimes I can't."

Sirius nodded. "But that still doesn't sound so bad, Ashe. I mean, you can heal faster, you don't get sick, you have quicker reflexes..."

"But I'd feel like taking a bite out of someone's neck half the time! Don't you get it?"

"So you take your potion."

"No, you don't understand," said Raven. "I didn't always have that potion. Why do you think you never noticed me until your seventh year, Black? I was hardly ever there. The potion wasn't developed until my fifth year, so until then, I couldn't go to my regular classes. I had to stay away from people."

Sirius nodded. "I guess it must have been hard. But have you ever actually bitten anyone?"

Raven shook her head. "I stayed away from people as much as possible so that wouldn't happen."

"But how could you?" asked Sirius, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I'd do without my friends."

"Well, let me put it this way, then: wouldn't you rather stay away from your friends than risk hurting or killing them without meaning to? Ask your friend, Remus. He'd know what that feels like."

Sirius nodded slowly. "You're right. I'd do the same thing."

"I felt like a monster every time I was around other people. I'm sure Remus did, too, sometimes."

Sirius reached out his hand and took Raven's. "You're not a monster. And none of this is your fault."

Raven looked up and rose an eyebrow at Sirius, but didn't withdraw. "...You're holding my hand, Black."

He smirked. "Am I? I hadn't noticed."

She now tried to pull her hand back, but Sirius tightened his grip.

"Let go..."

He grinned and kept his hold on it. "I'm just holding your hand, Ashe. Why do you get so jumpy?"

"Because I don't like getting too close to people. Can't you see why now?"

"No, I can't! You don't need to go through life like that! You're a vampire, not a leper! Come here..."

His right hand still holding strongly onto hers, he reached out and closed his left hand around her wrist and gently but firmly pulled it toward him. He held her wrist in pace and used his right hand to open up her palm.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just relax; I'm not going to bite you. You're the one with fangs."

He held her hand open in his as he ran his thumb slowly up her palm and back down again. As he did this, Raven noticed she was holding her breath.

"Such a little hand to hold so much trepidation in its palm."

Raven was staring at Sirius like she had been put into a trance, but he felt her shiver. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it.

"You're not a monster, Raven. You're just fine."

Raven nodded, her throat too tight to speak, and Sirius let go of her hand.

"So..." started Sirius, growing back his smirk in an effort to lighten the mood. "Ready to go on our date now?"

"...Date?" asked Raven. "What date? There's no date, Black."

"Wha–yes there is! Why do you think I came here in the first place? You said last night you'd go out with me today!"

"I was just trying to get rid of you!" exclaimed Raven.

Sirius scoffed. "Well, that's just too damn bad because we're going on a date."

"No, we're not, Black."

"Oh yes, we are, Ashe! You owe me!"

"I owe you? Do you remember what happened this morning? I think that's payment enough!"

Sirius grinned broadly at her. "...It was pretty sexy..." At this, Raven bit her lip and blushed, "...but I wholly prefer the fiery and outspoken version of you, just so you know."

"Hah… Yeah, well, I think I prefer…you're absence."

Sirius looked sideways at her, solemnly and sadly. "Why are you so mean to me, Ashe?"

Raven let herself grin. "You're such a piece of work. I'll bet that works on just about everyone else you know, doesn't it?"

Sirius's frown turned mischievously into a grin again. "...Not James."

"Speaking of James..." Raven began, pausing to bite her lip uneasily. "You're going to tell him, aren't you?"

"Tell him what?" Sirius asked her.

"About your little encounter with my other half this morning, what else?"

"Not if you don't want me to," he said.

"But you're best friends. Don't you two tell each other everything?" inquired Raven.

Sirius suddenly appeared disgusted. "Ew, no! We're not girls!"

Raven let herself giggle. "Really? You won't?"

"It's not my thing to tell, Ashe. Your secret's safe with me."

Raven was almost impressed with his conviction when the corners of Sirius's mouth began to turn dangerously upward.

"I'm sure we can...work something out..."

Now she rapidly changed expressions. "You–"

Sirius quickly put both of his hands up to signify surrender. "Kidding."

"I know, but you're so–"

"Charming?" interjected Sirius before she could finish.

"No!"

"Irresistible?"

She glared. "Nooooo."

He smirked. "Devastatingly handsome?"

Raven hit him across the chest lightly with a smirk now on her face as well.

"You like it," stated Sirius.

"No, I don't," she countered. "You like it; you're in love with yourself."

"Well, can you blame me?" he simpered.

Raven rolled her eyes.

"But seriously, if there's one thing I am, it's loyal. You don't have to worry. I've kept Moony's secret."

Raven nodded. "Thanks, Black."

"Don't mention it."

Raven shrugged. "Okay, I won't."

He grinned charmingly at her. "So...you hungry?"

Raven gave him an untrusting look.

"Oh come on! I know you're hungry! You didn't eat or more importantly drink anything this morning. I know that for a fact."

Raven thought for a minute and sighed. "All right, we can go eat something, but only because I feel bad for trying to kill you this morning."

Sirius grinned. "Fair enough. ...Wait, you were going to try and kill me?"

"...That's generally what happens when a vampire feeds, Black."

"Oh, shit... Wow... Well, couldn't you have just made me a vampire instead of letting me die?"

"Well, vampires don't usually sire unless they're looking for a companion, so..." Raven trailed off.

"Well, maybe you wanted me as your companion 'cause you were being all sexy and seductive," Sirius hoped.

"That was just to get you off your guard so it'd be easier to bite you, actually..."

"Oh..." Sirius ran a hand coolly through his hair. "So if it wasn't for Remus showing up at exactly the right moment this morning, I could be dead right now?"

Raven was now looking at the floor and sitting rigidly, having just realized herself how dangerous the entire situation could have been. "Right..."

Sirius was silent for a minute while he worked that out. When he looked up at Raven again, he realized the grief she must have been feeling at that moment.

He put on a grin. "Hey, did you know a near-death experience is said to bring about an intense desire to have sex?"

Raven quickly broke a smile. "Oh yeah, Black... I feel it..."

Sirius choked. "Really!"

Raven grabbed the collar of his shirt to bring his face closer to her. He looked down at her,

dumbfounded as she bit her lip provocatively. "Just not...with you!" She teased, pushing him backward again as they both enjoyed a good laugh.

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A/N: Yikes, that was complicated. And I probably missed some crucial detail. If anyone has questions, please feel free to email/IM me or ask in your review and I'll try to get back to you (although that's a little more annoying to try and do). Thanks. Don't forget to review, okay?